Photo By Staff Sgt. Gin-Sophie De Bellotte | Paratroopers get seated and prepped in a UH-60 (Blackhawk) for take off during an...... read more read more
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When you think of the holidays you may think of good food, family and friends, gifts being exchanged and that much needed time off to enjoy these memorable moments. For the Paratroopers at Fort Bragg, they were able to show their holiday spirit and bravery December 3 through December 5 by jumping out of rotary aircrafts high in the sky.
This airborne operation wasn’t like the regular ones conducted here at Fort Bragg, it was done in efforts for “Presents from Paratroopers.” The All-American Presents from Paratroopers (A2P2) is an event put together by the Division to give back to the local community. It’s about motivating Paratroopers to reach out to the community they are currently working and living in and giving back a little with an opportunity to earn foreign wings.
“This event originated from the longstanding contribution from the Randy Oler Toy Drop with an All-American spin to it,” said Master Sgt. Michael Zamora, the Division’s G3 air Noncommissioned Officer. “We as the 82nd Airborne Division, wanted to continue the legacy and show our gratitude to the community as well.”
The Randy Oler Toy Drop that’s hosted each year at Fort Bragg was cancelled in 2018 due to lack of resources.
“I’m not sure what the future holds for the All-American Presents from Paratroopers but I hope the event grows each and every year if this becomes an annual thing,” said Zamora.
A2P2 started off with jumpers participating in a lottery with toy in hand, in hopes of securing a spot to earn some foreign wings. The toy and registration form will in turn get jumpers a ticket. A brigade Air official conducted the lottery; the first 50 tickets drawn rewarded those lucky jumpers with foreign wings.
“We wanted to bring joy to children from different organizations in the area,” said Zamora. “What we would like to see is at least 1,000 gifts being collected and given to children across North Carolina.”
More than 1,000 toys were donated to the children in need which made the event a success.
Not only will this event spark joy for those children this Christmas, but it did the same for the Paratroopers. For 1st Lt. Josiah Luce, executive officer of 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, this was his first foreign jump.
“I’m excited! This is my first time jumping out of a Chinook (CH-47),” said Luce happily. “There’s a lot of fun things going on today and I’m excited to get in on this jump.”
Luce said he missed out on the opportunity last year and is very thankful to participate this time around.
This year, two countries participated in the event. Both Germany and Chile performed jumpmaster duties on CH-47s (Chinook) and UH-60s (Blackhawk). Luce received Chilean wings for his first rotary jump.
“Getting some foreign wings is a fun addition, as well as the experience. Being able to see what other countries do and how they do their own airborne operation was a good thing to see,” said Luce.
Satisfyingly, Luce added that this event was a lot of fun and it made a lot of people want to get involved. The support received for providing for children who are in need this time of the year, was really motivating.
In the future, Luce hopes to see more participation from the Family Readiness Group (FRG) so they can see the efforts Paratroopers put in to include families and provide support to children.
| Date Taken: | 12.05.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 12.06.2019 15:08 |
| Story ID: | 354554 |
| Location: | FAYETTEVILLE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 249 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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